Project Butterfly WINGS

Students at all grade levels and in every domain of science should have the opportunity to use scientific inquiry and develop the ability to think and act in ways associated with inquiry, including asking questions, planning and conducting investigations, using appropriate tools and techniques to gather data, thinking critically and logically about relationships between evidence and explanations, constructing and analyzing alternative explanations, and communicating scientific arguments. (National Research Council, 1996, p.105)

Scientific Inquiry: What is inquiry-based learning?TheNationalScienceEducationStandardsexplaintheimportanceofinquiry-basedlearning:

What does it mean to do an inquiry-based project?InquiryistheheartofthelearningprocesspromotedinWINGS.Intraditionalteachingmodels,theteacherdispensesknowledgeandthestudentpassivelyabsorbsit.Withinquiry,youthactivelyreasonandengageininvestigationstheydesign.Inquirylearningempowersyouthtodiscoverwhatintereststhemandencouragesthemtousetheirskillstofurthertheirknowledge.Ingeneral,inquiryincludesthreesteps:question,investigateandcommunicateresults.

Types of InquiryTherearethreetypesofinquiry.Thedescriptionswillhelpyouunderstandwaysyoucanimplementinquiry-basedlearningthroughouttheWINGSproject.Youcanengageyouththroughanytypeofinquiry,butcertainlyguidedandopenaremoreempowering.Whichonesyouusemaydependonthelevelandinterestsoftheyouth.Beflexibleinyourapproach.

StructuredLeadersgiveyouthaquestiontoanswer,awaytoanswerthequestionandthenecessarymaterials,butnottheexpectedoutcomes.Example:“Let’sinvestigatehowmanydaysittakesaBlackSwallowtailtoemergeasabutterflyfromitspupa.Wecanraisethelarvaewefoundinthegardentofindtheanswer.”

GuidedYouthmustfigureoutawaytoansweraquestiongivenbytheleader.Example:“Inoticeweseethesamekindofbutterfliesaroundthegarden.Howdoyouthinkwecanincreasethevarietyofbutterfliesinourgarden?”

OpenYouthformulatethequestiontheywillinvestigateanddeterminewaystoanswerit.Example:Youthask“HowdothebutterfliesinmygardenathomecomparetothebutterfliesIseeatthispark?”

Project Butterfly WINGS

Sample investigation questions

Which butterflies are found in this area?Observethesamesiteovertimetodevelopaspecieslistorchecklist.

What new butterflies would these host plants attract to my site? Monitorasiteforagivenperiodoftime,thenaddvarioushostplantsandmonitorthechangeinspeciesandnumbers.

How do changes in weather affect the presence of butterflies?Makeobservationsduringdifferentweatherconditionstodeterminetheeffectofweatheronbutterflyactivity.

When are butterflies most active?Monitorasitehourlyonthesamedayandunderthesameweatherconditionstoseewhenbutterfliesaremostactiveandifdifferentbutterfliesareactiveatdifferenttimesoftheday.

Which habitat has more butterflies? Monitorspeciesatdifferentsiteswithsimilarweatherconditionstocomparehabitats.

Who eats butterflies? Observeandnotebutterflypredators.

Does my favorite butterfly have a favorite nectar plant? Is there a link between the size of the butterfly and the size of the flowers it nectars on?Observeandnotebutterflynectaringbehavior.

Stewardship Quest Scientistsknowthereismuchlefttolearnaboutourworld.Whatareyoucuriousabout?Willyourdiscoverieshaveapositiveimpactontheworld?Goforit!

Life Skills

Criticalthinking

Communication

ActivityPlanandconductaninvestigationtoexploreyourquestionsaboutbutterflies.

Science ConnectionPlan and conduct an investigation—Scientistsstudythenaturalworld,usingevidencetodevelopexplanations.

Question quest: Scientific Inquiry

Project Butterfly WINGS

“The wise man doesn’t give the right answers, he poses the right questions.”ClaudeLevi-Strauss

Scientistsaskquestionstheyarecuriousaboutanddesigninvestigationstofindanswers.Theexcitingthingaboutbeingascientististhequestionsyouchooseleadtoafascinatingadventure.

Askingquestionsisoneofthefirststepsinascientificinvestigation.Butoften,scientistscomeupwithadditionalquestionsthroughouttheirinvestigation.Youmayfindthishappenswhenyouinvestigate.Youmayrepeatsomestepsorcompletetheminadifferentorderasyoucollectdatatodevelopanexplanationfromyourevidence.

Explorequestionsyouhaveaboutbutterfliesbydesigningyourowninvestigation.Usescientificinquirytoguideyourstudy.

Scientific Inquiry1.2.

3.4.5.6.

Noticethingsabouttheworld.Askquestionsaboutthingsyouobservethatcanbeansweredthroughscientificinvestigations.Designyourinvestigation.Gatherandanalyzeyourdata.Interpretyourevidencetodevelopanexplanation.Sharewhatyoufind.

Project Butterfly WINGS

The quest begins

Writeyourquestionshere.

Step 1: Notice things about the worldNowthatyouhavestartedbutterflydatelists,youarereadytobeginyourquestionquest!Thinkaboutthemanyobservationsyoumade.

Step 2: Ask questions about things you observeThinkaboutyourexperiencesinWINGS.Whatareyoustillcuriousabout?Lookthroughyourjournalentriestoremindyou.

Askquestionsthatleadtogatheringandusingdatatodevelopexplanations.Beginyourquestionswith“how,”“which”or“what.”Many“why”questionscannotbeaddressedbyscience.Questionsaboutbeliefsorissueslikegoodandevilcannotbestudiedinascientificway.

Narrow it downLookoveryourlist.Foreachquestionyouwrote,ask“CanIanswerthisquestionwithaninvestigation?”“WillIbeabletocollectenoughdatatodevelopanexplanation?”

Let’s Go!

Project Butterfly WINGS

Question quest ideas:Date listYoucanusewhatyouhavelearnedwithyourdatelisttodesignaquestionaboutbutterflies.Forexample,youcouldcomparethepresenceorabundanceofbutterflyspeciesatdifferentplaces,oratthesameplaceduringdifferenttimesofday,weatherconditionsandseasons.Favorite foodComparewhichfoodsourcesgetthemostvisitors:Abutterflyfeeder,variousnectarplantsandrottenfruits.Experimentbyaddingandremovingthefoodsourcestoseeifthemostpopularoneschange.

Selectaquestionforyourquestandwriteithere.

Step 3: Design your investigationAsmuchaspossible,scientistscontrolthevariablesorconditionsoftheirinvestigationstodecreasethenumberthingsthatmayaffecttheirevidence.Ideally,theyvaryoneconditionatatime.Butoftenthisisnotpossible,soitiscriticaltoidentifyallthevariableswhichcouldaffecttheinvestigation.

Lookaroundwhereyouaredoingyourinvestigation.Aretherethingsthatmightaffectyourresults?Trytoeliminateasmanyofthesevariablesasyoucan.Forexample,ifyourstudyinvolvesthreeplantsandoneisalwaysintheshade,pickalocationwhereallthreeplantsgetthesameamountofsunlight.

Describehowyouwillsetupyourinvestigation.

Listmaterialsforyourinvestigation.

Describehowyouwillgatherdata,includingthemethodsandanytoolsyouwilluse.Includewhat

youwillobserveandhowoftenyouwillrecordyourobservations.

Project Butterfly WINGS

Prepareandlabeladatatablesoyourdataiswellorganized.Ifyouwanttoinvestigatehowactivebutterfliesareduringdifferenttimesofday,yourtablemightlooklikethis.Whyisitimportanttocollectdataoverseveraldays?

NumbersofButterfliesinMyGardenatDifferentTimesofDay

Timeofday

Date Date DateDateDateDate

9a.m.10a.m.11a.m.Noon1p.m. 2p.m.3p.m.4p.m.

Step 4: Gather and analyze your data

GatherdataRecordyourobservationsonthejournalpages.Includethedate,timeandanyothernotesaboutyourobservations.Photographsprovidedocumentation.

AnalyzedataCompileyourdata.Whatareyourresults?

Project Butterfly WINGS

Step 5: Interpret your evidence to develop an explanation

Whatdidyoulearnduringyourinvestigation?

Wereyouabletogetaclearanswertoyourquestion?Ifnot,why?Doyouneedtorepeattheinvestigation?

Arethereotherexplanations?Howmuchdatadoyouneedforanexplanation?

Didyoudiscoversomethingelse?Ifso,what?

Whatnewquestionsdoyouhave?

Step 6: Share what you find

Tellthestoryofyourquest.Scientistssharetheresultsoftheirinvestigations.Onescientist’sdiscoveryleadstoquestionsbyotherscientists.Scienceknowledgechangesasscientistsexplorenewquestions.

Howcanyoutakewhatyoudidinyourquestionquestandtellthestoryinawaythatiseasyforotherstounderstand?Herearesomewaystotellyourstory:

1.Drawortakepictures.Showthestepsfrombeginningtoend.Labelthepictureswithshortdescriptions.

2.Usegraphs.Therearemanytypesofgraphsandcreativewaystoshowwhatyoufound.Lookatthedatayoucollectedduringthequestandorganizeitintographs.

Project Butterfly WINGS

Youcanmodelyourquestionquestafterthisactual

investigationordesignoneofyourown!

Step 1: Notice things about the world

TheBlackandAniseSwallowtailslayeggsonmembersof

thecarrotfamily,includingparsley,dillandfennel.

Step 2: Ask questions about things you observe

WhichhostplantdoestheBlackSwallowtailprefertolay

hereggson:dill,parsleyorfennel?

Step 3: Design your investigation

FilleachplanterwithoneofthreeBlackSwallowtailhost

plants.Tocontrolvariables,keeptheplantersandthesizes

ofthehostplantsthesame.Usethesamesizesandtypes

ofnectarplantsineachplanter,andthesameamountsof

soil.Theseareallconditionsthatcouldaffectthedata.

Materials

Hostplants(dill,parsleyandfennel)

Nectarplants

Pottingsoil

Gardeningtools

Wateringcanorhose

Potsorplanters

Describehowyouwillgatherdatatofindanswers

Examinethehostplantsatleastthreetimesaweekto

seewhichplanttheBlackSwallowtaillayseggsonfirst.

Recordthenumberofeggsandnotetheplants

theyareon.

The McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity

conducts sample question quest in Gainesville, Florida

BUTTERFLY TIMES

Step 4: Gather and analyze your data

Gatherdata

Recorddates,timesandobservationsinajournal.Take

picturesofthechangesintheplants.

Analyzedata

Calculatethefindings.Addthenumbersofeggslaidon

eachhostplant.Lookatthedatesyoufirstobserved

theeggs.Theresults:theBlackSwallowtaillaideggson

thedillsixweeksaftertheplantersweresetup.Black

Swallowtailscontinuedtolayeggsonallthreehost

plantsforthenexttwomonths.

Step 5: Interpret your evidence to develop an

explanation

TheBlackSwallowtaillaideggsondillfirst,butthisdoes

notmeandillisthefavoritehostplant.Locationofthe

plantersandothervariablescouldhaveaffectedwhich

hostplantthebutterflysawfirst.Theinvestigationshould

berepeatedseveraltimestoseeiftheresultchanges.

Newquestionsthatcameoutoftheinvestigation

1.

2.3.4.5.6.7.8.

Step 6: Share what you find

Photos,alongwithdatatablesandgraphsthat

summarizetheresults,canbeincludedonaposter.

Howmanyeggsarelaidoneachplant?Doesthisaffect

survivalofthelarvae?

Howlongdoesittaketheeggstohatch?

Dolarvaeofdifferentagesliveonthesameplant?

Dolarvaekilltheplants?

Howmanylarvaesurvivedtobecomepupae?

Whichpartsoftheplantsdothelarvaeeat?

Dootherinsectseatthesameplants?

Dolarvaetravelfromthehostplanttopupate?Ifso,

howfar?